The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-08-17
Why ronNADoEs SPARE LARGE CITIES.

A few years ago an expert employed
by tho United States Signal Service de-
Glazed that there was no conceivable rea-
son Why II tornado should spare a large
city. lie even went so far as to say that
it was possible that q funnel-shaped
cloud would one day strike New York,
wrccking the city and twisting the great
Brooklyn bridge into u corkscrew. The
Chicago Inter Ocean takes a different
viow-starting out with the assumption
ih&t the immunity enjoyed by large cities
III The past Is solid ground for the belief
Shat thoUo is III danger to be apprehcnd-
ed. II il, nevertheless, admitted that q
wh.~GNs aerial shaft having q diameter
OF 1000 feet, and moving at the rate of
500 miles an hour would crush the most
substantial buildings like SO many cgg-
shells. The Inter.O Ocean says:
"'Hhc reason is very plain, and may be
| easily understood, even by people I'M
| versed in scientific lore. The tornado at
tic outset is IL simple, whirling shaft of
| air, caused, rs we believe, by the wind
currents from nearly opposite directions,
OF unequal temperature and different
degrees OF humidity. When it is fairly
started on its course it generates i'm
memsc quantities of electric fluid. In
act 1t becomes a swiftly moving dynamo,
generating enough electricity to make
burning fluid in its pathway. 1t is the
subject TINT the tornado is primarily
caused by electric action, but this We
think is an error. The mistake is in
placing the effect for the cause. But il
Is certain that after its inception electri'
city is generated, and that the subtle
fund becomes one of the most important
factors of its destructive force.
"Passing over the country, the tornado
follows the general trend of the larger
Cyclunic storm, or area of low pressure.
1T ooeys the natural law of all bodies il
motion, moving in the direction of the
least resistance. \ mountain, OF Other
considerable elevation of land, will break
1t up or turn it aside. A city like Chi
cage presents an obstacle sufficient tc
repcl the electrified m~cteorite and turf
it to right or left. Tho city bristles will
rods and spires, and is covered by n net
ting of electric wires. These, together
with the vast aggregation OF metallic struc
lures, disarm thunder clouds of theil
destructive force, and at the same time
evidently tend to rcpel the more highly
electrified tornado. 1t is well know
that death or damage by lightning is O.
very rare occurrence in the centre of any
considerable city. Tho bolts may STRIKE
in tho suburbs, but if they descend il
the city they are arrested by much more
swittness and certainty than a dcprcdato,
is caught by 'tho best"
However consoling all this may be K
the dwCllcrs in large cities, and howeve,
strong the temptation to swallow til,
theory whole, there still remains a very
interesting question-how large must
city be to turn aside a well-devolopet
tornado?
One thing, at least, seems to be cstab
lished. In the smaller towns it has beer
found that buildings constructed of soil,
masonry and good brick, put together il
a WOriimanhkc manucr, resisted til,
force of the most violent storms. Coco
OuIidjngs, therefore, afford some protec
ION. The fact that no structure will re
sist a column of air whirling along at the
rate OF 500 miles IN hour should no
deter people from building their houses
m q proper manner a tornado tha'
viii destroy Il wei. built house is no NOR
among the probabilities in this latitude
taau ) a destructive earthquake.